University of Dayton eCommons Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Publications Work 2007 Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage Leslie H. Picca University of Dayton,
[email protected] Joe R. Feagin Texas A & M University - College Station Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/soc_fac_pub Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-based Learning Commons, Community-based Research Commons, Criminology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Social Work Commons eCommons Citation Picca, Leslie H. and Feagin, Joe R., "Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage" (2007). Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications. Paper 11. http://ecommons.udayton.edu/soc_fac_pub/11 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. 3 THE BACKSTAGE Racial events that reveal the larger forces of racism in society are com mon and obvious in the sociospatial realm we term the backstage, especially in situations where whites interact with white friends and relatives. Backstage settings, where interactions typically take place among whites only, involve an array of complex interactions and per formances. There we observe all dimensions of racial events-- indica tions of who is allowed and not allowed in the backstage, what racialized performances are tolerated or expected there, the sociospatial character of contexts, the impact of conventional racial framing, and the perva sive influence of the larger society.